Normally I'm not much for the woobiefication of the bad boy-trope, but after seeing Star Wars: Thee Force Awakens, I just couldn't help myself. So I went searching for good (non-incesty) Kylo Ren/Rey fics, and among the usual rubble I found these two gems:

Fandom: Star Wars: The Force AwakensPairing: Rey/Kylo RenTitle: i saw you in the wild (you were nervous, you were furious, you were very sure-footed)Author:phosphenesLink:HereRating/Warning(s): PGWord Count/WIP?: 3,124, noRecced on LiveJournal By: zantedesha

Why This Must Be Read: Because it's sparse and tense and flows naturally from what we know of these two characters. It's a quiet piece despite the fighting scenes and the romantic (if you can call it that) undercurrent is told just right.

That’s how Kylo Ren becomes real to her, his mannerisms and vulnerabilities falling together like puzzle pieces until he becomes more than a murderer, more than the right hand of the enemy. Bit by bit, the human emerges as they cross blades countless times over the course of the war, slipping into each other’s mindset as easily as donning second skins, matching each other’s rhythm in a graceful, deadly choreography of red and blue light.

This isn’t fighting anymore.The strange thought occurs to her one day, when she dodges his blow and he automatically waltzes out of her counter’s reach. It’s muscle memory.

Why This Must Be Read: This fic has been all over tumblr lately, and with good reason: It feels like a natural progression of the movie itself, but in a darker, dirtier direction than Disney would ever allow it to go. Kylo Ren and Rey is both fully realized characters: Intense, vulnerable, and strong in parts, and the author's use of a force-bond feels neither exploitative nor lazy. There is a redemption of sorts in the works, but it is not easily given, and Ren's actions are not glossed over. Cameos from Star Wars stories of old pop up, and Rey and Leia's evolving relationship especially is given its proper weight.

Rey feels something important in the stretch of broken earth between her and Ren. Something savage in her chest, the hunger, as he lies broken and bleeding on the other side. Rey feels the strength in her legs now that this power, bracing her, surges through. Rey is faster, stronger, wiser. She feels incarnate of something, a force that urges her to finish this. The jump over the chasm is merely a step. Rey can finish this - for Han. For everyone.

But the other half wars with that feeling. She understands Ren’s words on the bridge now, this struggle tearing him apart. Rey feels it kindling, the whispers fighting against that bright, burning thing inside her. So she turns her back to his shocked gaze, the cut she gave him already furrowing into an ugly gash across his face, and runs.